


Vox Hieme

by SummerAshes



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: Anger, Blood and Violence, F/F, F/M, Gen, Injury Recovery, Multi, Original Character Death(s), Original Fiction, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Pain, Recovery, Sexual Content, Violence, Work In Progress, talk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 19:27:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5176895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerAshes/pseuds/SummerAshes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not even one day out into his journey, Ness's best friend, who was his first Pokémon, gets killed by a newly-formed team for turning down their offer to join them. Swearing revenge upon them, Ness will stop at nothing to avenge his friend. But how can he do this while that group who killed his friend continues to grow in size from fear of them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! New story, completely customized region by me, and an original team. Don't want to say too much. One more important thing to note is that all pokemon can talk.
> 
> Enjoy! :3

_*Even as you're gone, I miss you more and more.*_

_*Even as you're gone, I'll never forget you.*_

_*You were the one I could always go to.*_

* * *

"Alright Digger! You've almost got it!" Ness yelled excitedly. "Finish it off with Fury Swipes!" He commanded. At the command of his trainer, the Sandshrew rushed forward towards the wild Purrloin, claws drawn and ready to strike. The Purrloin saw him coming and with little time to prepare, it tried to avoid it but ultimately didn't.

With arms flailing, the Sandshrew raked it's claws all over the helpless Purrloin's skin, causing it to cry out. Scratch after scratch, Digger's attack finally let up just as it finally fainted. Breathing heavily, it stayed in a battle stance, ready to strike again if it was faking.

A few moments passed by where neither trainer nor Pokémon moved an inch, wanting to be sure they had been victorious. But soon, one spoke up, "I think it's done. You did it Ness!" Winter, Ness's friend, spoke up. Instantly, the trainer and Pokémon ran towards each other and jumped into their arms, hugging happily.

"We did it! We won our first battle!" Ness exclaimed happily.

"For your first battle, you did pretty good. I'm impressed," Winter spoke. Breaking the hug with Digger, Ness turned towards her,

"I did? You really think so?" He asked, a small smile on his face. Winter nodded,

"I do. Of course, like most beginners, there's things you can improve on but I will leave those things to you to figure out." She said as she the bag off her back and sat it on the ground where she than began riffling through it.

"I'm glad you think that!" Ness smiled. "It means a lot a trainer like yourself thinks so!" He said. As Winter continued looking for who knows what, Ness couldn't help but feel lucky he had a friend like her. He couldn't help but blush to himself as he recalled having the absolute biggest crush on her growing up, even though he's older.

He wasn't too surprised about it either. Ness couldn't really ever figure out why he liked her, but he knew he did. The two did almost everything they could together growing up. Both their parents were surprised the two never became an actual couple, but to them both, that was fine so long as they had their friendship.

Ness watched as Winter groaned and mumbled to herself, becoming frustrated with whatever she couldn't find, "I swear to Arceus, I should really stop and organize this bag one day.. Ah! There it is!" She said, before pulling out a spray bottle.

"What's that?" Ness asked.

"This spray right here," She said, tapping the bottle, "is called a Revive. It'll.. well.. revive a fainted Pokémon. It's pretty evident by the name of it." Winter explained.

"I see. Why do you have it out? Digger here is fine. He barely took a scratch!" He said happily, hugging his Sandshrew tightly.

"Oh, you know, because I like holding it." She joked. "With every winner, there must be a loser, in this case that would be that Purrloin. Since it has no trainer, you can either capture it or you may revive it to remain free." She explained. "Since you're just starting out," She said, reaching into her pocket, "I'll give you the choice. You may try to capture this one or revive it to remain free. Again, since you're starting out, I'll provide the revive or PokéBall." She said, pulling out an empty PokéBall from her pocket, offering both to him.

Without a second thought, Ness took the revive from his friend. "How do I use this?" He asked.

"Just spray it over it's body. It'll do all the hard for you." Winter said.

Nodding to her, Ness sat Digger down on the ground next to him and walked over to the fainted Pokémon. Sitting down next to it, Ness gently scooped the Purrloin up and sat it gently onto his lap. Removing the lid from the bottle, Ness began spraying the Revive all over the Pokémon's body. As he did, he found himself petting over it's soft fur, enjoying it on his fingers. "Like this?" He asked.

"Yep. That's all you do. And when you're done, you just let the medicine do it's work!" She smiled.

"How much do I use?" He asked again.

"The whole bottle. It's really not as much as it seems," She explained, "Just make sure to spray where possible to make the process quicker. Also, a Revive won't fully heal your Pokémon, unless you use a Max Revive. Even then, it won't fully heal them, just make it so they're able to battle again. Their ability to use moves aren't restored. It's hard to explain, really." She said.

"Don't worry, I think I understand." He said, turning his attention back to the Pokémon. He then noticed his Sandshrew friend had a curious look on it's face before speaking up,

"Does having one of those things used on us Pokémon hurt?" It asked.

"I really wouldn't know. I would assume there'd be a tiny bit of stinging as it's healing you but nothing a strong Pokémon like you can't handle." She smiled and winked to Digger. The small sand-mouse smiled back to her,

"You're right! I don't need to worry about it. I'll never get hurt!" It said. Ness couldn't help but laugh at his little friend. Like him and Winter, Ness had known Digger for most of his life. His mom had gotten Ness the Sandshrew as a little present one day and the two have been friends ever since.

A few moments later, after listening to Winter and Digger talk, he felt the Purrloin in his lap begin to stir. Blinking it's easy slowly, the Purrloin took a moment to try and figure out where it was. As it locked eyes with the human and Pokémon who hurt it, it instantly began trying to stand to defend itself, only to collapse back onto the ground. Looking up, Ness heard Winter laugh at it,

"Don't worry little guy. We're not here to hurt you. It was my friends first battle, nothing more. He won't capture you." She told it with a smile. Looking between them all, the Purrloin got up slowly before proceeding to turn around and escape as quickly as it could.

Sighing to herself, Winter looked to her watch and her expression instantly changed, becoming deftly serious, "Oh crud! I'm gonna be late!" She said. Reaching onto her belt, she removed a PokéBall from it then tossed it into the air, "Torva! Go!" She yelled.

Instantly, the area around the group grew a bright white as a giant canine appeared, ready to listen to her trainer. Ness couldn't help be feel jealous about her and her Pokémon. "Hey Torva," Ness waved. Turning it's attention to the one who called it's name, the Arcanine nodded to him,

"Hello again, Ness." It said. "Start your journey I see?" Instantly, Ness smiled.

"You bet! I even won my first battle against a wild Pokémon! You should have seen!" He exclaimed.

"Good job! I'm sure one day you'll have a bunch of other Pokémon and we'll be able to battle." Torva smiled to him. Ness was about to reply before Winter cut in,

"Sorry to cut your chat short but, Torva, I just realized we're going to be late to our meeting. We need to hurry to Kensett town." She said to her Arcanine.

"You kidding me Winter? Again?" It said in disbelief. Ness couldn't help but laugh,

"Oh, Torva, if only you knew the beginning of it with her and being on time to things." Ness joked. Winter looked at him with a glare,

"Watch yourself." She said. Ness chuckled and Winter spoke up again, "Either way, we need to hurry. Mind if I ride on your back so we can actually make it on time?" She asked. Sighing and nodding, Winter nimbly jumped onto it's back then looked to Ness, "Sorry to cut our time short. Call me when you get to Aldora!" She said. "I want to hear about your trip there!"

"Don't worry, I will!" He said with a smile. Smiling back, she nodded to Torva and, like a bolt of lightning, the duo took off, too fast for Ness to see. Sighing to himself, Ness stood up then grabbed Digger and held him tightly, "Man, she's so lucky. Just wait Digger.. one day.. we'll take her on ourselves!" He smiled.

"Yeah! Then we will defeat the Champion and become Champions ourselves!" Digger replied happily. Ness smiled and began walking down Path 1, eager to see what awaited him. As he did, he couldn't help but think about how quickly Winter had gone through the Gym Circuit and gotten to where she was.

It was a little over a year ago when she had left to begin her journey. She wanted to be this ordinary trainer going around trying to beat each gym but, without really trying, she had achieved just that. She beat each gym with almost no effort and, along the way, had made many new Pokémon companions, ones that he later met and also considered his friends.

Winter and Ness planned on leaving together but, sadly, they didn't. They had a set date when they would leave but things had come up, preventing Ness from leaving. He didn't want to set Winter behind and begged her to start, where he would soon catch up to her or use her as a way of learning, to which she agreed with in the end.

Now, a year later, she still tells him about stories she had on her own journey, fueling his own passion and desire to go on his. And now, thanks to her, he finally is on that journey! And it's all thanks to her.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Digger and Ness continued on battling random wild Pokémon they saw. Most were wins, but there were a few losses along the way, which was to be expected from a beginning trainer. At first, the losses brought his mood down but he remembered what Winter had told him, "You won't always win. You will lose from time to time. But learn from the losses and use the losses to aim towards victory."

As Ness reflected upon the day so far, he didn't notice a small group of trainer approach him. "Hey! Kid! Wait up!" One of them called out. Snapping him out of his daze, he looked off to the side of the path and watched the group approach him.

"Yeah?"

"You look like you're just starting out. You also don't look like you know too much about battling. Is that true?" The one in front asked. He was substantially bigger than the other two, with more muscle on him and a scruffy looking beard on his face. Ness looked at them all and noticed they all had something similar about them. Each of them had on a bright blue jacket and, on the left side of it, had a logo that said 'FrostBite' on it.

_Maybe it's just a new clothing brand and they all liked it?_

"Yeah, I suppose so. It's my first day and I'm still learning. Why?" He asked.

"Well, we could teach you if you'd like." The big guy offered. Ness smiled to him,

"No thank you," Ness responded kindly, "I appreciate the offer but I'd rather learn on my own or from a close friend of mine. Thanks though!" He said, then began walking down the path to Aldora again. As he did, the big guy stepped in front of him, cutting him off,

"Nonsense. I insist you let us help you!" He said, a small smile on his face. Ness instantly got a nervous feeling deep down and began backing up slowly, trying to avoid him.

"Again, no thanks." Ness responded.

"Why not? Do you doubt me?" He asked, a fake hurt look on his face.

"No, as I said, I prefer learning on my own. Thanks." Ness said, continuing to back up away from him. As he did, he soon felt himself collide with something and, turning to see what it was, he saw it was the other people that big guy was with, both wearing grins on their face.

"Look man," Digger spoke up, "we just started today and want to figure things out on our own. Leave us alone!" He spoke, jumping down from his trainer's shoulder. Digger then extended his claws threateningly, ready to defend him if necessary.

The big guy laughed at Digger's attempt at being scary and, reaching onto his own belt, he withdrew a PokéBall and, after expanding it, he tossed it into the air. In one bright flash, a new canine appeared in front of him. It had bright blue fur on it, matching the color of its trainers coat, with two long tendrils hanging off the side of it's head. Ness instantly recognized it as a Glaceon.

"How about this kid. I'll give you a new offer since your little friend is trying to act tough. You join up with us in FrostBite and we'll spare you both the pain and suffering. Deny and.. well.. it won't be too good for you." He said, a new grin showing on his face, one that showed he wasn't one to mess with.

"I'd listen to the boss, kid." One of the other people spoke up. "You don't want to mess with his Glaceon. Even looking at it sends chills down my spine." He spoke.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll just join up with us." The other said.

Ness looked around confusedly, "I have no idea what you're talking about but I want no part of it. Just leave us alone!" Ness yelled. The big guy laughed again,

"Don't think so kid. This is your last chance, squirt. Join our cause or it won't be pretty for you." He spoke.

"I don't want a part of SnowBlind or whatever you're called. I just want to take my journey as any other trainer would." Ness spoke.

"First off," The big guy began as he picked up Ness by his shirt collar,

"Hey! Put me down!" He yelled. Instantly, in an effort to protect his trainer, Digger launched himself at the attacker, trying his best to get him to put his friend down. As his claws raked across his skin, barely even scratching him, the guy looked towards his Glaceon,

"Do you mind getting this rat off me? It's pretty annoying." He said.

"With pleasure, master," It spoke, a wicked smile on it's face. Quickly, the Glaceon jumped at the Sandshrew and, with powerful jaws, clamped down onto the back of it's neck and flung him off. Digger rolled several times before coming to a stop. Dazed, Digger slowly got up and turned his attention to the Glaceon.

"Do whatever you want to it, I don't care." He said.

"Can I kill it?" It asked, the same evil smile on it's face. Instantly, Ness felt his stomach drop, fearing the worse.

"Come on! This isn't funny! Leave us alone!" He begged.

"Not yet, but make sure it won't bother me again." He instructed. Nodding to him, the Glaceon charged at Digger again. This time, it's fangs were showing and they were covered in pure ice.

"Digger! Watch out! It's using Ice Fang!" Ness yelled. Jumping to the side, Digger avoided the attack and, with little time to recover, Digger turned around to only see the Glaceons head collide with his in a powerful Headbutt. "Stop! Leave him alone!" Ness begged, fearing for his friend's life.

"You know," The big guy spoke up, "forget my offer of you joining FrostBite, you're super annoying." He spoke.

"I don't care! Just let us go! Please!" Ness begged.

"Would you just shut the fuck up already?" The man groaned. With a powerful shove, he threw Ness across the road where he tumbled multiple times. As Digger watched this, he tried his best to get up and run to his aid. However, just as he stood up, he was pushed back down by the paws of the Glaceon.

As Ness tried to figure out what was going on through his daze, he heard a pained scream and looked to see Digger was in the grasp of the Glaceon, with what looked to be ice forming all around his body.

"What are you doing? Leave him alone!" Ness yelled. He tried to get up but, just as he did, he was pushed back down by the boot of the big guy.

"You should have taken the offer to join us kid. We don't like being turned down. Too bad you have to learn the hard way at your friend's expense. Luckily for you though, I'll spare you." He said. "Just remember, the next time you see me, you won't be so lucky." He said. He then turned his attention to the Glaceon and shrieking Sandshrew flailing around wildly, trying to break free of the pain being caused. With a single nod from the man, the Glaceon smiled the best it could.

In an instant, Ness knew what was coming. "Digger! No!" He cried out. In a desperate attempt, Ness sprang to his feet and charged at the Pokémon, only to be stopped by the leader again as he gripped his shirt and threw him back to the ground.

"Make sure he doesn't get up," He said, looking to the other two with him. Getting an affirmative nod from them both, he then turned his attention back to his Glaceon. Soon after, Ness felt himself be grabbed by the two others and, no matter how much he struggled, they had him and he could do nothing.

"Winter! Please! Where are you?!" Ness cried out, hoping that, by some random chance, Winter was there waiting for him. "Somebody! Please! Help!" He cried out again. As he continued to cry out, the leader spoke up again,

"Sorry kid. Maybe next time you'll listen." He said. As he finished his statement, he turned to the Glaceon and watched as it continued freezing Digger. Digger kept screaming pain as the cold slowly enveloped his body. Ness watched on in horror as his lifelong friend was literally being frozen to death, right in front of him, and he couldn't do a thing to stop it.

"Please, stop. Don't kill him.. please!" Ness begged, tears beginning to fall from his eyes.

_Why me?! What did I do to deserve this!? Why Digger? I just wanted a journey to remember, not this!_

The longer the Glaceon had a deathgrip on Digger, the slower and more shallow his breaths became. Ness watched on as his friend was literally helpless and was soon to be gone. But what amazed him is that, even on the brink of death and through all the pain, Digger had a smile on his face.

"Ness.." He wheezed, "don't feel sad. It hurts so much, but I want you to ignore my pain. I want you to know I'm sorry I couldn't protect us; that I failed us." Digger said between ragged breaths, "But I want you to listen to me, and listen good. The years growing up together are ones that I want you to remember. Cherish them." He said.

"No, Digger, it's not too late! I can save us!" Ness yelled. He watched as Digger chuckled lightly,

"No, you can save yourself. When you get out of here, I want you to do one thing for me. And continue your journey. Don't you dare stop because I'm not here. Never forget the moments we had. Got it?" Digger smiled lightly.

"Don't talk like that. I won't let you die. You can't die! This isn't how it was supposed to go…"

"Ugh, that's enough of that. Glaceon, do you mind? I've had enough of the sappy. Just finish him off, already." The big guy instructed.

"Never forget what I said Ness. Good bye." Digger said, a lone tear streaming down his face.

"No! Digger!" Ness yelled, tears continuing to flow. In one fluid instant, Ness watched as the Glaceon swiftly slammed its paws onto the back of Digger then quickly jerked its head to the side, snapping Digger's neck. "DIGGER!" Ness cried out, unable to believe he just saw what he did. "I swear to Arceus, I'll fucking kill you!" Ness yelled out, shaking violently, trying to break free from his captors. The people simply laughed at him,

"Good luck kid." He spoke. Continuing to watch the Glaceon, it then threw the body over to Ness where it landed right in front of him. Ness looked in horror as the expression on his friends face was dull and lifeless, confirming he was dead. The Glaceon then walked over to them both and sat in front of the corpse of Digger and spoke up,

"Want me to cut his neck as well to make sure?" It asked. The leader shook his head,

"No need. He was weak, even if he survived the initial break, there's no way he will be the time anyone finds them." He said. With a nod from the Glaceon, it stood back up and, quite literally, walked over Diggers corpse and, jumping up and resting its paws on his shoulders, it looked into Ness's eyes,

"You hear me, and hear me well kid, if I ever see you again, I will personally make your death much worse. Not only will I kill you, but I will personally make sure your bones are broken and that you will know who is truly dominant." It said, an evil smile on it's face.

"You may as well just kill me now, because you've taken all I have left in this world." Ness said, a new tear running down his cheek. The Glaceon seemed to notice it and, as if to add insult to injury, it proceeded to lick the tear clean off his cheek. It then laughed at him,

"Tears of children never get old!" It exclaimed before jumping off his shoulders.

"You're one fucked up Pokémon, you know that?" The big guy laughed at the Glaceon. The Glaceon nodded and laughed back. "Anyways, we've done our business." The guy walked up to Ness and squatted down in front of him, becoming eye level with him. "Like my Glaceon friend said kid, do not let me see you again. Your life will be much worse if you do." He said, before standing up, "And to anyone who may be out there! Do not stand in the way of FrostBite, for we will achieve our goal and eliminate anybody, man, woman, or child, who opposes us!" He yelled.

As he yelled his small speech, a little ringtone was heard and one of the grunts behind him let go of Ness's wrists, where he then answered one of his phones. Another moment later, the grunt turned his attention to their leader, "Drist, sir, they're ready for you now." He said.

"Alright, thank you." He then turned his attention to his Glaceon, "Glaceon, knock the kid out." He said. With a nod from it, the Glaceon looked to him. And just before it charged, the guy spoke up once more,

"Never forget FrostBite."


	2. Coming to Realization

_*I can't believe you're gone.*_

_*It doesn't feel real..*_

_*Why couldn't it have been me instead?*_

* * *

Warmth.. comfort.. that's what Ness felt. He felt so comfortable where he was. Eyes opening slowly, Ness was confused where he found himself. Looking down, he saw he was in a bed, covered lightly by a sheet. This confused him, for the last he remembered, he was outside. So why was he now in a bed? "Where am I…" He mumbled to himself.

"Ness?! Oh my Arceus!" He heard a familiar voice exclaim. Looking to the side of his bed, he saw Winter, a worried look on her face, "I'm so glad you're okay!" She said, quickly climbing over to him and hugging him tightly. As she did, a pain made itself known deep inside his head, causing him to hiss in pain.

"Winter! Please, headache. Don't be so loud…" He groaned. Instantly, she recoiled,

"Sorry.. it's just.. we didn't know what happened.. I was so worried." She said. Again, this confused him, and what confused him more was that his best friend Digger was nowhere to be found.

"Don't know what happened? What are you talking about? Where am I Winter? And more importantly.. where's Digger?" Ness asked, worried about his friend. As he did, Winter got a sad expression on her face,

"Hold on, Ness.. I need to go get Nurse Joy. She needs to know you're awake now. I'll be right back!" She said, hurrying out of the room and leaving Ness to himself.

_This is so confusing.. If she's getting Nurse Joy, then I must be in a Pokémon Center.. But why? What happened? Why can't I remember anything…? Where in the hell is Digger? Did he get hurt or something?_

Those were only a few of the thoughts going through Ness's head. None of this made sense.. "And why the fuck does my head hurt so much?!" He groaned, rubbing his temples lightly. As he did, Winter and Nurse Joy walked in, where Nurse Joy visibly sighed a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank goodness, you're finally awake!" She exclaimed. "You gave us quite the scare there!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure I'm did." Ness said, "Can someone PLEASE explain to me where Digger is and why I have such a splitting headache? And why I'm even here in the first place? Last I remember, I was on my way here, having a nice day. So, seriously, what happened to me?!" Both Nurse Joy and Winter looked to each other,

"You seem to be a friend of his, Ms. Avron, would you like to explain?" Joy asked.

"If I must.. but please.. cut in where possible." She said. With a nod from her, Winter turned her attention back to Ness, "Well.. as of now, we're not entirely sure what had happened. You've been out for two days. Nobody knew what had happened.

"When I never got a call from you saying you made it here to Aldora, I got worried and thought something had happened. So I tried calling you, and you never picked up. When you didn't, I knew something was wrong, you always answer, and if you miss it, you call right back. So I rode Torva back to Route 1 and we looked for you." Winter explained. "Eventually, we found you and Digger." She said, the same sad face showing.

"Seriously, Winter, where's Digger?"

"He's.. umm.." She began, looking like she was holding back tears.

"Mr. Wontolla, I regret to inform you your friend was critically injured." Nurse Joy cut in. "When Ms. Avron found you both, and brought you here, you seemed to be in stable condition but your friend wasn't. It appeared his neck had been broken by an unknown force, but whatever it was, was strong. Along with his broken neck, he had ice formed around, what appeared to be, a bite wound on his neck." She explained.

"He.. what? Please tell me you're joking.. this isn't funny.." Ness said, a tear beginning to roll down his cheek. "Is he alive?"

"When you two were brought here, it appeared he wasn't. He had no sign of life when we began examination. Miraculously, we did happen to find a pulse." She explained. Instantly, Ness's demeanour changed, from sad to hopeful,

"So he's alive?!" He asked.

"Well.. he's breathing, but only on life support." Nurse Joy informed him. "There's no easy way to say this, Mr. Wontolla, but your friend is brain dead from the damage caused and how long it was left untreated." She said, a sad look on her face. Instantly, Ness's mood changed, but to much worse.

"So.. there's no hope of his survival?" Ness asked. Nurse Joy shook her head sadly.

"No there is not, unless kept on life support." Ness's heart dropped. His friend was basically dead, emotionless.. gone forever. He looked to Winter, and saw she also had an extremely heartbroken look on her face. "I'm sorry you had to hear this." Nurse Joy said.

"How did he live with a broken neck? Shouldn't that kill someone?" Ness asked, barely able to speak.

"That's where we're confused. We believe it was of how his was broken and the fact that there was, what appeared to be, some frost bite by the.." As Ness heard that, it all came flooding back to him.

The attack, the big guy.. why they were attacked.. "I remember.." Ness said quietly, sadness and pure anger becoming known.

"Huh?" Winter and Joy both said in unison.

"I remember what happened now.." He said, another tear coming down. He then looked to Winter, "If I ever see those people again, I will kill them." He said.

"Hold on Ness, what happened? What do you mean 'those people'?" Winter asked.

"Hold that thought, Mr. Wontolla. We need to get Officer Jenny here so you can tell what happened, since you said it was people and not any Pokémon. One moment, please!" Nurse Joy said before swiftly turning around and leaving. As she did, Winter proceeded to sit on the bed with Ness.

"I don't know how you feel Ness.. I can't imagine how you are right now. But I need to ask if it would be alright if I release my Pokémon.. they need to hear what happened.. seeing as they are also your friends and as well as Digger's." She said.

"Yeah. It's fine.." Ness said, wiping the tears from his face. Even with how he felt, the most he could do right now was wipe the tears away. He knew Digger wouldn't want him to cry, he would want him to move on. He even said to continue his journey.. but how could he without his best friend?

With a nod, Winter released her team. They all simultaneously shook their heads a moment, trying to get their bearings and trying to figure out where they were. Turning their heads towards the two humans, they saw they both had tears and hurt looks on their faces. "Winter? Ness? What's going on?" Asked a Gardevoir. "I can feel the sadness from you both.. it's overwhelming.. what happened?" She asked.

Just as they were about to speak up, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny returned and, upon entering the room, they saw all the Pokémon there. "More friends I assume?" Nurse Joy asked. Getting a nod from Ness, she continued, "I see. Well, Officer Jenny, I'll let him explain what happened." She said. Getting a nod from both Jenny and Ness, he began his tale of previous events.

"I can remember it with no problem now.. It was my first day as a trainer. I had just left home.. I was ready.. or.. I thought I was ready. But ready or not, I left to start my journey and Winter here was teaching me some basics about being a trainer." He began.

"After my first successful battle, Winter had left, telling me that any more information she had would be best if learned myself. And I agreed. So fast forward a few hours to around midday. Me and Digger, my Sandshrew, had multiple battles throughout the day on the way here to Aldora. We won some.. and we lost some. It was so fun.." Ness smiled. He looked around the room and saw all were intently listening, and seeing they were, he continued.

"But after some time, a group of trainers approached me." He said.

"How many people?" Officer Jenny asked, taking out a pen and paper to write down notes.

"There were three of them." Ness answered. As she scribbled more notes onto her paper, she asked another question,

"What did they look like?"

"There was a big guy. He had muscles, big ones, and a beard. I didn't really pay attention to details, as I was in fear of my life, as well as Digger's. The other two were significantly smaller than him, much more frail looking but they were still stronger than I was." He explained, watching as she continued to jot down notes, most likely for her investigation, "They all had relatively matching outfits."

"Can you describe what they were wearing?"

"They all had on matching jackets, bright blue ones that had 'FrostBite' written on the front. Around the word FrostBite, on the top and bottom of the word, were what looked to be fangs or something, I don't know how to explain it. If you saw it, you'd understand. The two smaller ones had on sunglasses, hiding their eyes. Other than that, I can't really remember.. I was too scared.." He said.

"I understand.. you may continue on Mr. Wontolla," She said with a nod.

"Alright.. when they got my attention, they asked if I was a new trainer. When I said I was, they asked if I would like for them to teach me the ropes and get started. I declined, saying I would like to learn on my own or have my friend here, Winter, teach me anything I need advice on. They didn't take that too kindly.. especially the bigger guy.." He explained, "When I said no, he persisted, almost trying to force me to. The two others said I should just do as he says. Again, I said no. When he wouldn't leave alone.. Digger spoke up, hoping to scare him off.

"Well.. the guy didn't take that too lightly. He called out a Glaceon and said if I joined his group, he'd spare me and Digger.. from suffering. I was so confused. I had no idea what he was talking about. I told him I didn't want to be a part of whatever he was talking about and, as you can guess, he didn't like that."

"You said he said to join this 'group'? What was it called?" She asked.

"...FrostBite.." He said, a bitter look on his face. Winter saw the look on his face and wrapped an arm around him, trying to comfort him, even if only a little.

"That name is familiar. I believe they've been on our watch list for a while. Did they say anything about why they want you to join them or any kind of 'dream' they have?" Officer Jenny asked. Ness shook his head no,

"They did not. However, I did catch the name of the leader, or at least, someone important to them before they knocked me out. His name is Drist. The other two, I'm not sure of." He told her. Nodding to him, Jenny continued writing all the notes she could.

"Drist.. not much to go on but any amount of information can help." She said. "Continue on, please."

"Well.. after he said something about sparing us, I knew something bad was about to happen. The big guy, Drist, picked me up and started threatening me. When he did, Digger acted in response and charged at him, trying to save me. He stood no chance.." Ness said, trying his best not to cry.

"Ness.. what did they do to you?" Winter asked.

"When Digger tried protecting me, Drist told his Glaceon to get Digger off him. I've never seen such an evil look on a Pokémon before. It happened so quick. The Glaceon grabbed him by the neck and flung him off him, then used a Headbutt on him. Then it charged him with an Ice Fang.. and wouldn't let go. I watched with my own eyes as my friend was being killed in front me.. And I couldn't do a thing to stop them!" Ness cried out, a tear rolling down his face.

Seeing this, the Gardevoir walked over to him silently and sat on the bed, next to him like Winter was, then grabbed his hand sadly. "I couldn't save him!" He continued to cry out to them all. He looked around and saw Winter had tears of her own and Vox, Winter's Lucario, had one of the most heartbroken and pissed off looks he'd ever seen.

Vox and Digger had been friends ever since Ness could remember.. even before Vox evolved into a Lucario. Digger was one of the only people Vox had ever openly spoken to, one of the only people he could trust. He helped Vox come out of his shell.. bringing out some faith to speak to others. In a way, Digger was one of Vox's only friends.. and he had him taken away without even getting to say good-bye.

"I sat there, helpless, as my own friend was being frozen to death by that fucking Glaceon! I struggled to get free of their hold on me.. but I couldn't. The screams of pain.. the amount of begging for it all to just end.. I'd never seen Digger that way. And no matter what I asked, they wouldn't stop." Ness explained, looking to Ahria, the Gardevoir next to him, and gripping her hand tighter, happy to have someone who cared.

"When Drist said to kill him, I couldn't believe it. It had to be a joke. I begged for him not to.. but the Glaceon.. it had a look I could only describe as one of being from a nightmare. I tried so hard to save him but Digger knew I wouldn't have been able to, that it was too late. In his last dying breaths.. he said he had failed me.. that he had failed us.

"As tears were running from both our faces, he told me to remember the good times we both had. He said he wanted me to continue the journey I had just started, and to not end it because he was going to die. But, even as death was staring him in the face, he held a smile. He would accept his death if it meant I would be alive.. It hurt so much."

"So.. they killed your friend for not joining their group?" Officer Jenny asked.

"They tried to. According to Nurse Joy, when I was found, they thought he was dead. But he had a pulse, although barely and is, as of now, pronounced brain dead from the damage and for being left untreated." He explained to her.

"Is this true, Joy?" Joy nodded,

"Yes, that is correct. We believe the ice from the attack had somehow stopped some of the damage and helped not kill him. But the damage is never going to heal, and he is now pronounced brain dead." She explained. Jenny nodded and scribbled onto her notepad then turned to Ness,

"Mr. Wontolla, after they attempted to murder you friend, what happened?"

"After I watched that Glaceon break his neck, I lost it. I begged for them to kill me just as he did. But they wouldn't. The Glaceon taunted me and threw his body in front of me. I was sure he was dead. When it did, it sat mere inches away from me. After a couple moments, it walked over his body, literally stepping on it and said that if it found me, it would kill me but much worse than what happened to Digger. It promised I'd suffer.." He said.

"After it threatened me, Drist yelled something about if anybody get in his way of whatever he was planning, he'd kill them, whether it was man, woman, or child. He didn't care. He then ordered his Glaceon to knock me out. The rest, about them finding me, is for them to tell." He said, pointing to Joy and Winter.

"So Drist has some plan with FrostBite and won't stop at anything to achieve said goal? This may need to be looked into.." She mumbled to herself as she scribbled. "And you're sure nothing about this 'goal' was mentioned?" Ness nodded, "Alright. If you we discover anything about this, I'll personally contact you via your PokéDex." She said. "And.. I'm sorry about your friend." Jenny then turned towards Winter and Joy, "I have some questions for you both. If you could please come with me," She said. Both nodding to her, Winter looked to Ness and hugged him once lightly then got up, Joy and Winter following her.

"Oh, and Officer?" Ness called out,

"Yes?"

"I am giving you this warning now." He said, a serious look on his face. "Just as I said to Winter, if I ever see those people again, or any of this 'FrostBite', I will personally kill them myself. So I suggest you find them quickly." He said, pure hatred of that name in his voice.

"I'd advise against that, Mr. Wontolla. Leave it to us, we'll find them." She said before turning around, walking out with Winter and Joy.

"Oh and, Mr. Wontolla, I'll bring you your medicine in a moment." Joy said. He nodded, completely forgetting about his headache. With that, he was alone, except for Winter's team of Pokémon. He looked to them all and they wore sad looks, but Vox's was more of anger.. a look of sadness, anger, hatred, disbelief his friend was basically gone..

"I'm.. umm.. so sorry about what you're going through, Ness." Ahria spoke up. "I can't even begin to imagine how you feel.." She said, hugging tightly onto him.

"Do not be sorry, Ahria," He said, "as you are not the reason for his death. I am to blame, I could not protect him."

"You are not at fault, it is those bastard FrostBite's fault," Torva spoke up. "There is nothing you could have done. I'm sorry you lost your friend, but you said he would not want you to be sad over his death. Easier said than done, but that's all you can do." He said.

"I could have ran! I could have recalled Digger and ran away, but I didn't." Ness exclaimed. "I didn't know what to do. And now he's gone…" Ness wiped a tear from his face and looked to Ahria, "It's all my fault.." He said, grabbing onto her and pulling her close, before finally breaking down and crying.

* * *

For the next three days, Ness was instructed to stay in bed to ensure he suffered no major damage from the attack on him. Joy expected nothing major but they had to be sure, especially if the attacker killed another Pokémon with ease, so they didn't allow him to leave. They monitored his vitals, made sure he wasn't getting sick and that his headaches were getting better, which they were.

Around the two day mark, a bruise began to form. Joy had said that the bruise should go away after a while but Ness didn't really care about it. He just wanted to leave. But he couldn't, so he had to continue to deal with the check-ups Joy had scheduled for him every six hours to make sure he was fine.

Along with the bruise that had formed, Ness had heard back from Jenny. She had told him that they are still looking for the people mentioned and that no leads were found. They will continue searching and will notify him of any possible information found.

The third day had been the hardest for Ness. On this day, Joy had said it is best if they take Digger off his life support. They had kept him on in hopes they were wrong and he would make a recovery, but he never did. As hard as it was for him, Ness agreed. He couldn't let his best friend suffer anymore. He did not know if he was conscious and aware or not, and if he was, he did not want him to feel pain anymore.

At 2:32 P.M., on October 23rd, 2024, Digger was pulled off life support and pronounced dead, unable to support himself. At approximately 6 P.M. the same day, Ness had Digger's body cremated and his ashes released the same day into the wild, the hardest thing for Ness to ever do. He had spent the rest of the night crying, never stopping once, not even for sleep.

Winter was there for him the entire time, barely ever leaving his side. Ahria and Vox were there the entire time as well, protecting him if he was still in danger. When Winter was gone, they stayed and Ness would talk to them both, trying to get over his friend and accept that he was truly gone.

Although Vox hardly spoke, he did swear to avenge Digger if given the chance, just as Ness had. It made Ness happy to know someone agreed and would kill the ones who killed Digger, just as he wanted to.

During his time in the hospital, he had done a lot of thinking and about what he wanted to do. He wanted to give up his dream to be a Pokémon trainer, for his best friend wouldn't experience it with him. But each time he did consider this, he remembered Digger's last wish, which was to not give up and to continue on just as they had wanted. If he had not asked him to, he wouldn't do it. But he had reason to continue now, and he would just so Digger can be at rest peacefully.

But the problem with that was.. Ness had no Pokémon. He couldn't go to Professor Behmo for a starter as he already turned one down since he had Digger at the time. He couldn't go out and capture a Pokémon, for he had none to battle for him and Winter's team was too high of a level to battle the local Pokémon.. he didn't know what to do.

But as usual, Winter came to the rescue. About two weeks ago, Vox and Atlas, Winter's Absol, had befriended a rather.. flirty.. Ditto. An egg was created and nobody was sure what Pokémon would be inside said egg. She had offered the egg to him, as it was possibly a few days until hatching. He humbly accepted the offer. The only problem with this was that the egg was currently being incubated in a Pokémon Center in Kensett Town, which was one town over. They would have to travel there if he wanted it.

As said, he had accepted as long as Winter would travel with him to Kensett Town and back, incase anything were to happen. Naturally, she didn't decline to him asking that. Had he not asked, she would have even asked if she could go with him. She didn't want to be away from him right now.. or for a while, for that matter.

Now, five days later, giving a day for Ness to make sure he was better, the group is travelling an open field, known as Swift Lily, on the way to Kensett Town. It was a beautiful area to travel, with Lily's and many other flowers all planted throughout. Many wild Pokémon ran happily, all enjoying their beautiful day today.

It hurt Ness to know he wasn't able to enjoy it with Digger but everyone was right, he had to move on. Before they had left Aldora, Ness had Digger's PokéBall redone and made into a necklace so, even though Digger isn't physically here, he was still with Ness, able to enjoy and see what was happening.

Sighing, Ness looked to Winter, "Thank you Winter.."

"For what?" She asked curiously.

"For being there for me.. back in the Pokémon Center. It means a lot." He said, smiling lightly.

"You don't need to be thankful. I would have dropped anything and everything to be there for you. I'm just sad I wasn't there when it was going on. Maybe things could be different." She said, sighing to herself.

"Maybe they could be, but that doesn't matter. What's happened.. happened. And I will move on. For Digger's sake.." Ness said, reaching up and gripping the tiny PokéBall necklace lightly. The two said nothing for a few moments, not sure what else to say. Eventually Ness spoke up again, "So, this egg, any idea what it could be?" He asked.

"As far as I'm aware, it's two possibilities. It's either an Absol or a Riolu. Assuming they were the only two there, it looks like you're stuck with them." She said.

"I don't know why you say 'stuck with them'. I would be happy with either."

"Oh.. trust me. You'll see." She grinned.

Ness looked at her confusedly but said nothing more. Rather, he tried his best to enjoy the journey ahead of him with his friend. It would take another day before they arrived to Kensett Town, and then, possibly, another few days before Ness would find out who his new companion would be. All he hoped for was one that would like him. One he would be able to protect.

One he couldn't fail.. like he did Digger.

 


	3. New Team Member

For the next day, Ness and Winter travelled to Kensett town. For the most part, it was uneventful. Any trainer who had seen the two and challenged them quickly changed their minds when they saw the team that Winter had with her, as well as seeing Ness had no team.. for now. That was all set to change soon.

Towards the end of the day, they had finally arrived to Kensett. Ness took a moment to look around at the entrance, taking in the beauty that was Kensett. This town was known for being a bit on the floral side, what with plants and small trees being planted all throughout the town. "It's as pretty as I've heard.." Ness said in awe.

"You should see it in Spring. It's almost winter now, so everything isn't as lively as normally." Winter said. Ness nodded,

"I can only imagine. I'll have to come back here some day.." He mumbled to himself. "So are we going to get the egg tonight?" He asked.

"Well it's in the Pokémon Center and that's where we will be staying so.. We can pick it up tomorrow or tonight, it's your choice." She said, walking down the sidewalk. Ness ran to catch up to her,

"When do you think it will hatch?" He asked. She shrugged,

"What am I? The Egg Whisperer." She smirked. Ness rolled his eyes,

"Fuck you."

* * *

For the next few minutes, the group walked towards the center, absentmindedly talking amongst each other about Ness's plans. They were pulled out of their little chitchat as they soon came to the middle of town and saw a rather large group forming along a stage. "Wonder what's going on?" Ness said.

"No idea.. Want to check it out?" She asked. Ness shrugged,

"Got time to kill. Might as well." He said. Nodding to each other, they walked up to the forming group and stood behind a couple people. As of now, nobody was on stage, just some crew setting up microphones and other people adding various decorations to make it look pretty. "What's happening up there?" Ness asked aloud, hoping to be answered by someone. A lady in front of him turned around,

"Some speech about changing the world 'for the better' again, apparently." She said.

"Great. Another one of those groups." Ness mumbled. "Any idea what this group is called?" She shook her head no,

"Sorry but I do not know." She answered. Ness nodded,

"Thanks anyways." He smiled. She smiled back and turned around, then Ness looked at Winter, "We going to listen to this crap?" He asked. She shrugged,

"Might as well. Nothing better to do as you said earlier." She said. Just as Ness was about to speak up, a loud tapping sound was heard and caught the attention of everyone in the crowd. Ness looked and saw it was someone tapping onto the microphone, as if checking if it was on. Smiling to himself, the figure looked among the crowd then spoke,

"Good afternoon everyone." He said, waiting for the crowd to silence before continuing. "I'd like to begin by saying thank you for taking the time to join us today," He said, waving his hand at the seats behind him. "Not wanting to waste your time, I'd like to introduce you to our leader." He said, waving towards a man sitting behind him. Standing up, the man took his place at the podium where the previous man took his seat.

Ness looked at the man before him. He seemed oddly familiar. He had a rather large set of muscles on his body as well as a rather thick beard on his face. Underneath his right eye was, what looked to be, a scar of some type. The man was dressed in a rather snazzy-looking business suit, with no indication of him being the slightest bit dirty.

"Greetings, everyone," He spoke, an evident power in his voice. "I will not bore you with my name, as it is unimportant. Rather, I will tell you about us." As he spoke, Ness couldn't help but think he even sounded familiar. As he thought, one person came to mind..

"That can't be.. can it?" He asked himself. Winter looked to him,

"Can't be what?" She asked. Ness ignored her and listened on.

"The group behind me," He said, indicating those sitting behind him, "are but a mere portion of what we are. We are known as FrostBite, and we are aiming to achieve our goal to make the world a much better place to live." He said, a small grin on his face. Instantly, it hit Ness.

"That's him.." He said quietly. Winter raised a brow at him,

"Who's him?" He looked at her,

"That's the guy who killed Digger.." Instantly, she looked to the man then back to Ness,

"Are you sure? That's something you need to be sure about." She said.

"I'm almost positive. The only thing that seems odd to me is that mark on his face.. I don't remember it being there.. But FrostBite is definitely the group. I would recognize that name anywhere." He said. Nodding, Winter turned her attention back to the man speaking.

"Now you may be thinking 'Oh great, another group of people out to destroy the world but fail and disband in the process', right?" He asked. Instantly, the group mumbled to themselves as if agreeing. He smiled, "I hate to break it to you, but that's not FrostBite. We are not out to destroy the world. We simply want to make it a better place for us all." He grinned.

"Now you may be asking, 'What is this goal you're talking about'? Simple! We're on the mission to wipe out all of those other organizations who seek world domination such as Team Rocket, Plasma, Magma.. all of them. Through strength.. we shall prevail and finally defeat them as nobody else has been able to. Walking hand in hand with each other, we will make this happen!"

"That's bullshit.." Ness muttered. "If that were true.. why did you take Digger from me.." He said to himself. Winter looked at him and could see the pain and anger growing evident on his face. Thinking for the better, she reached to her PokéBalls and grabbed one then released Ahria. As she came to figure, Winter spoke to her telepathically,

'We may be getting a nasty situation going on soon, Ahria. If I say to get us out of here, teleport us away.' She instructed. The Gardevoir looked at her confusedly,

'What's going on, Master?'

'Ness's killer might be up there and I can tell from the look on his face he is pretty pissed off.' She said. 'So if I say to, teleport us to the Pokémon Center, got it?' She said. With a nod, she turned her attention back to the man.

"I'm sure you've all heard of Team Rocket, and for those who don't, they are the group based in Kanto who are bent on world domination. They have killed many men, women, and children to achieve said goal. They were temporarily disbanded by a young boy by the name of Ash Ketchum after their leader was defeated but word has it that the group has reformed within the last couple years.

"Or what about Team Magma and Team Aqua? You know.. the two teams who tried to drown the entire world and dry up all the water? We have received word that we may know the whereabouts of the groups base at the moment and are in the process of fighting back against them, for who knows what else they have in store." He spoke, getting a few cheers from the group of people.

"And who could forget Team Galactic? I don't know about you, but I'd not like to have our own galaxy distorted to some crazy mans image. What about you?" He asked again, getting more cheers.

"And then there's my personal favorite of Team Plasma. Bunch of crazies saying to release your very own Pokémon and, if you didn't, they'd steal them. I don't know about you, but it's hypocritical to say to release your Pokémon when you have some with you when you say that, am I right? Oh but then there's that new group.. what's their name.. Team Flare? Who honestly even cares about what they have to say, honestly." He laughed. "I guess we could mention Team Snagem and their project but that was so small it's like they never even existed, so there's no point."

"Liars.. you're lying to the people.." Ness said, starting to walk forward. Winter grabbed him by the arm,

"Hold on there big guy, just wait. Let's listen and see what they have to say, maybe it could help up out?"

"Now you may be asking how we plan on taking these teams out to make it safe for you, and all the newer trainers out there. While I can't go into details, I CAN say that we are working around the clock trying to get as much knowledge about how these people think and work and what makes them how they are. We have stations all throughout Merriedge, so we are able to get information about these teams much quicker than most."

"If you're as good as you say, why are you here today looking for recruits?" A man yelled out from the crowd. The man at the podium raised his brow at the question,

"I thank you for the question. To answer, just because I say we're good doesn't mean the best. Quite the opposite, we're far from it. We need people to help us. We need support, funds to help pay to get our name more out there.. That's why we're here, everyone. We want YOU to join us in the liberation of all the evil within the world. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we're tired of living in fear of these people. It's time to get rid of them once and for all. And we need all the help we can get. I hope that answers why we're here today." He said, smirking at the man. He then turned his attention back to the group, "Anybody else have questions?"

Ness began walking forward as if about to speak but grabbed him, cutting him off yet again, "Don't Ness. It's not worth it." She spoke. Ness quickly jerked his arm from her grasp and looked at her, a fire of pure hatred and anger in his eyes,

"Not worth it? NOT WORTH IT!? They killed Digger, Winter! I'm not going to sit back silently and let them brainwash these people." He said, turning and walking back towards the front of the group. Winter looked at Ahria and spoke to her telepathically once again,

'Follow him and teleport if things start to get bad. I trust your judgement. Don't let him do anything too stupid. Let him get some anger out but nothing more.' She said. Ahria nodded and began following Ness.

Once at the front and against the stage, Ness looked up to the man who didn't even seem to notice him. "I've got one," Ness spoke up. He looked around and saw Ahria next to him,

'Mind helping me up there?' He asked her. She nodded and used her Psychic energy to slowly lift him up to the stage with her next to him. "Recognize me?" He asked. The man smirked almost unnoticeably but Ness caught the faintest glimpse of it.

"I do not, should I?" He asked.

"You know, I'm only the kid you're saying you want to protect but, instead, you killed my own Sandshrew no more than a week ago? The one you swore you would kill if you saw again?" Ness said, trying his best to restrain him.

"Killed your Sandshrew?.. Kid, what are you talking about? I have done no such thing! Why would I kill an innocent Pokémon?" Ness ignored him,

"Do not listen to this man, everyone!" He said, turning his attention to the crowd before them, "He is a liar in every way possible." The crowd looked at him confusedly, "Last week, I began my journey. On my very first day, I was attacked by this man before you. He had said he would teach me how to be a trainer but I declined. He ended up killing my starter Digger, who was a Sandshrew.. all because I didn't want to join his 'group' or 'have him teach me how to be a trainer'." He told them, using air quotes around the last part.

"If what you say is true, about you just starting your journey, then how do you have a Gardevoir with you? No trainer just starting out has a Gardevoir, and if one did, said Pokémon would not listen to you so easily. The Ralts line evolve at higher levels and having one listen to you so easily would indicate you have gotten at least three or four badges. So by that knowledge, you're lying."

"No I'm not! What you're trying to do is a lie, just to make yourself seem like a good guy!" Ness yelled.

"Kid, why are you so sure it was me?" He asked.

"Do you honestly think I'd forget my best friends killer? You look JUST like him! You ARE him." He said, growling at him. "He was big, had a beard like yours, and I'll bet more than anything you have a Glaceon, JUST as he did.. because you're the killer." Ness said, confident in what he said.

The man raised a brow, "A Glaceon? A nice evolution of Eevee, but no, I don't. Here's my team," He said, tossing six PokéBalls into the air, all popping open simultaneously. In front of Ness, and the crowd, were a Mightyena, Glalie, Weavile, Walrein, Crobat, and, Froslass. Sadly, there was no Glaceon present. "As you can see, I do not have a Glaceon, nor have I ever. I wanted to as a young lad, but I would not trade a single member on my team for one." He smiled to them, all smiling back. This confused Ness beyond words.

"How.. I would NOT mistake my killer. You look just like him!"

"Get off the stage, kid!"

"Boo!"

"This is why nobody believes kids these days."

Those were just a few of the things people began yelling. Here Ness was, almost in tears at being in the presence of his friends 'killer' and nobody believed him. 'Ness, let's go.' Ahria spoke. Ness looked to her and nodded sadly, then looked back at the man,

"Just as you warned me, I will warn you. You watch your fucking back. You made a mistake killing my friend. And to all of you!" Ness said, turning to the crowd, "Do not believe a second of what this man says. He is a killer and a deceiver. You will make a mistake and put many more lives at risk if you follow him." He said, the crowd just rolling their eyes and moaning at what he said. "Get me away from here, Ahria…" He said quietly. Ahria nodded and in the blink of an eye, Ness and Ahria were gone.

* * *

"I don't know Jenny! I'm beyond positive that was him!" Ness yelled at the computer screen in front of him. He was in a video call with Officer Jenny who was still stationed in Aldora for the time being. As asked, he had called her back after learning what little he did about FrostBite.

"I thought you said he had a Glaceon, though?" She asked.

"I'm not crazy! I would never forget its face. I will never forget the crazy eyes it had as it took my friends life. I don't know how, Jenny, but he had a Glaceon at that moment and he didn't here. Maybe he has some Pokémon in storage?" He suggested. Jenny shrugged,

"Possibly. We'll have to look into it. Did they say where they were heading next? Maybe we can keep tabs on them if we know."

"No, they did not." Ness sighed, "He said something about being stationed in each town, though. Maybe enough investigating and you can find something?"

"I'll keep an eye out for them. I'll also inform the other towns to remain alert of any rallies going on anytime soon, maybe send in some undercovers to try and find out more information. As for now, stay safe." She said. Ness nodded,

"Alright, will do. Let me know of anything you find.. please." She nodded in affirmation then the screen went dark, ending the call. Again, Ness sighed and turned his chair then looked at Winter, "You believe me, don't you?" He asked.

"Of course I do. I've had no reason NOT to believe you. And even if you were wrong, Ness, they're still associated with the one who did kill him. So it's no better." She said.

"I just.. I don't know.. How did he have six of them but not one was that Glaceon.." He sighed.

"I don't know, Ness, but stop worrying about it for now. I'm sure Jenny and the police will find something. I'm sure all the worrying isn't going to be good for the new one." Winter said, eyeing the egg laying on a pillow across the bed.

"Yeah.. okay.. you're right." He said, standing up and walking over to the egg. Nurse Joy had said the egg was going to hatch within the next day or so. She had found out what Pokémon it would be but Ness wanted it to be a surprise. Vox had used his aura earlier on in the night to identify the newborn as well but Atlas also wanted it to be a surprise on if he was the father or not. So to the rest, they had no idea what to expect.

Picking it up lightly, Ness sat where the egg was and cradled it lightly. Ness then looked to Atlas and Vox, thankful they allowed him to take their potential child away from them to be on a journey. He had no idea what he or she would be like, and it excited him greatly to be able to meet his new friend soon. It was just a matter of time before the egg finally hatches.

"So when are you wanting to go back to Aldora?" Winter asked. Ness shrugged,

"I don't know. As soon as possible, I suppose. I don't know if I'll be as restrained to not do something stupid if I see dicknut again." He said, growling at the thought of Drist. "You're lucky Vox wasn't out with us. If he was.. I don't know. But as for your question, the sooner the better. How long are you sticking along?"

"Until you're ready to be on your own, I suppose. Or when I'm sure you're able to fend for your own without doing stupid shit.. Actually.. if that last one decided when I leave, you'd never be alone." She giggled. Ness glared at her,

"So funny." He mumbled to himself. He looked to the side of the bed and eyed the clock, seeing it was almost nine at night. "Might as well get some sleep." He said, standing up and setting a blanket in the chair next to him where he sat the egg on top. He then stripped off his shirt and shoes and sat them off to the side. With a yawn, he looked at Winter and saw she simply stood up.

"You go ahead. I'm going out with Torva for a bit." She said, walking to the door with Torva behind her. "We'll be back later tonight. The rest is here if you need them."

"Oh.. gee.. they are? I'd have NEVER seen them." He said, laughing at her. She glared at him,

"Strike two." She said. "Night." The two walked out, the door closing behind them, leaving Ness and the rest alone. Paying no attention to them, Ness continued getting ready for bed just as they did. Vale, Winter's Luxray, curled into a ball at the foot of Winters bed with Ciel, her Dragonair, right next to him. The rest of them all took a spot on her bed, looking squished together. Ness raised a brow at them,

"There's more than enough room over here." He said. Quickly, Atlas jumped up and took the other side of the bed next to Ness, making himself comfy. The others didn't appear to budge, while Vox stood in a corner, looking out the Center's window. "You gonna get some shut eye?" He asked. Vox simply huffed in response. Ness took it as a no he wasn't right now.

With a few good-nights exchanged, Ness shut off the lights in the room, leaving it in the light glow of the night.

* * *

Giggling. That's what Ness heard. Soft fur. That's what Ness felt.. and boy did it tickle. As he slowly drifted into consciousness, Ness felt someone, or something, pushing itself against him, tickling him more. "Knock it off, Atlas." He groaned, rolling to the other side away from the one waking him up. The voice huffed at him for turning away from it before it jumped to the other side and continued on where it left off.

"Not me, Ness." He laughed. Again, he heard the giggling. It sounded feminine. That left Ahria and Ciel.. and neither of which were furry feeling. Groaning at the sunlight, Ness yawned and stretched before slowly opened his eyes.. well, tried to. As he did, the creature that was ontop of him pounced on him and began nuzzling him lightly.

Trying his best to focus, Ness made out a very fuzzy white outline on the Pokémon. "I don't know what's gotten into your Atlas, what with the girly voice now and the affection, but seriously, quit it." He yawned. As he sat up slowly, he realized it WASN'T Atlas who was on him. No.. it was a new one. Looking to the side, Ness smiled at what he saw. "Had to be when I was sleeping.. didn't it.." He mumbled to himself.

Grabbing the Pokémon, Ness sat up slowly and sat it on his lap, although that was hard to do with its size. The Pokémon in question was a canine with pure, snow white fur. The skin on its face was black in color with a scythe coming from its head. The tail on the Pokémon was also black and sharp looking and came to a point at the end. Hanging down from the head of the Pokémon was a big clump of fur, almost like a beard on Santa.

"So.. it was an Absol.." Ness spoke, gently petting the Absol on the head. It smiled happily at him and push into his hand, not wanting him to stop. "Well, congratulations, Atlas, you're a dad." He grinned to him.

"Thank you. I couldn't be happier, and I know she's going to be in good hands." He smiled.

"She?" Ness looked at him confusedly. Atlas nodded,

"Correct. She's a female." He nodded at her.

"Well she's such a cutie," Ness smiled at her. She barked at him happily and nuzzled into his hand lightly. "What are you going to name her?" Ness asked. Atlas shook his head,

"Not my decision. She's your Pokémon."

"But she's your daughter. So you chose."

"Tough luck. Not going to, it is your decision."

Ness sighed at him, "Would you stop being yourself for once and just name her?" Atlas grinned at him and shook his head, causing Ness to sigh again, "Whatever. I guess I should capture her first before I get into really thinking about a name? Is it too early to even do that?" He asked, looking to Winter who was sitting silently off to the side.

"It is not. But battling, yes. Give her a couple days before we start, she still has to learn her moves and whatnot. But you can capture her now." She said. Ness nodded and looked to the Absol.

He sat her to the side next to him and reached off the bed and into his bag before pulling out a PokéBall. He then turned his gaze back to the Absol and spoke to her, "You see this?" He asked her. She nodded, curious about the little sphere. "It.. how do I explain.."

"Want an example on what it does?" Winter asked Ness.

"Please. Easier to show than explain." Nodding, Winter reached for her balls and pulled out one. She then turned to Atlas who nodded, knowing her was going to be the one to show since the Absol was his daughter. Ness pointed to the two, "Watch daddy!" He said. Watching him curiously, the Absol watched as the ball touched Atlas's had and covered his body in red before sucking him into the ball, disappearing from sight.

Instantly, the Absol charged to where he was and looked for him, confused on where he went. She could still smell his scent so she knew he was here but.. where.. she had no idea. She jumped off the bed and looked under it, mewling quietly in confusion on what just happened. She sat down in his spot, beyond confused on what just happened.

"Come here," Ness said, patting the bed next to him. As she walked over to him, still eyeing where her dad was moments ago, Winter tossed his ball and released him again, causing the Absols expression to change to happiness again. "This ball here," He said, showing her the red-and-white sphere, "Sucks you in there for a few seconds. It makes it so nobody else can take you from me. And I have to put you in there to make sure that happens. Alright?" He said. She tilted her head to the side and eyed the ball. "It doesn't hurt at all, if that's what you're wondering." He told her.

Absol leaned in closely and sniffed it all around, as if making sure it wasn't some kind of trick. Satisfied it wasn't, she leaned in closer and booped the button on it with her nose, where her face changed to shock quickly as it sucked her in. The ball wiggled around lightly for a few seconds before it made an audible 'Click!', signalling she was caught. Just after it did, he released her. Right when she materialized, she looked at the ball on the bed and slashed it, causing three deep gashes to form onto it just above the button.

"Woah now, it's over." He said, quickly reaching for the ball. "You won't go in it unless you're super hurt or tired." He told her. She still eyed it carefully, clearly not being fond of it. Ness pocketed the ball and grabbed her, pulling her out of her trance. "Welcome to Team Ness," He said, smiling at her. She yipped happily at him and nuzzled into his neck, happy with the human showing her so much affection.

"At least she liked you." Winter smiled. Ness agreed,

"I'm glad. I wonder how much sarcasm she got from Atlas," He grinned, still petting the Absol.

"About as much as I gave that Ditto.." He mumbled quietly.

Ness couldn't help but chuckle, "So not much?"


End file.
